Saturday, April 14, 2018 1:00 am

NHL Playoffs

Flyers respond, draw even

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH – His team embarrassed by the defending Stanley Cup champions in a lopsided playoff-opening loss, Philadelphia Flyers coach Dave Hakstol could have panicked. Instead, he doubled down.

No switching up the lines. No swapping the goaltenders. Nothing. Hakstol didn't think changes were necessary. As ugly as getting blown out by Pittsburgh in Game 1 looked, it felt even worse. That was motivation enough. No personnel changes necessary.

“It was pretty tough for us to walk out of the rink a couple nights ago,” Hakstol said. “That wasn't us.”

This was.

Sean Couturier had a goal and two assists, Brian Elliott stopped 34 shots and Flyers cooled off the Penguins 5-1 on Friday to even the first-round series 1-1.

“Said it coming in, nobody is really giving us a serious chance in this series,” Hakstol said. “I don't know if anybody still will. I do know this, we've got it down to a five-game series and we introduced ourselves into this series tonight.”

Shayne Gostisbehere, Travis Konecny, Andrew McDonald and Nolan Patrick also scored for the Flyers. Two nights after getting crushed 7-0, Philadelphia responded by keeping Pittsburgh stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in check and taking advantage of what few chances it produced against Matt Murray to beat the Penguins for the first time this season.

“For all the doubters out there, there you go,” Flyers forward Claude Giroux said.

Game 3 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

JETS 4, WILD 1: In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Paul Stastny, Andrew Copp and Patrik Laine scored in the third period and Winnipeg beat Minnesota to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.

Defenseman Tyler Myers had a goal in the second period and also had an assist. Rookie Jack Roslovic had two assists in the game that ended with a series of fights.

Game 3 is Sunday at Minnesota.

Kadri suspended

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was suspended for three games for boarding Boston forward Tommy Wingels during Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.